Present Tense [Wild Beasts]

No matter what your taste may be, you simply can’t dislike this album. Wild Beasts have craftily manipulated sound, time, and rhythm to create the musical equivalent of a Picasso. Present Tense retains the band’s signature pensive, occasionally brooding atmosphere, but distinguishes itself from predecessor Smother by overtly emphasizing the emotional drama the record’s operatic vocals and longing chords consistently generate. Wild Beasts profess their creative and musical maturity not only through the album’s superlative rhythms and lyrics and heightened sense of spatial and self awareness, but also by successfully replicating the organic textures and impressions that made their previous albums such a revelation to listen to. Such inclusions as the trembling and wobbly synthetic instrumentals in “Wanderlust,” the dynamic yet humble drumbeats in “A Dog’s Life,” and the inspiringly emotive vocals in “Sweet Spot,” make Present Tense arguably the band’s most accessibly organic and expressive album yet.

FINAL SCORE: 4½ out of 5 stars  (raw score: 92.5, between “almost perfect” and “perfect”)

Present Tense was released February 24, 2014

St. Vincent [St. Vincent]

St. Vincent’s self-titled album is a work of experimental alternative genius and a triumph of human spirit in an age where, more often than not, it is masked rather than exalted by instrumentals. Annie Clark arranges an eclectic potpourri of styles (syncopated vs. steady and even), sounds (acoustic vs. synthetic), and textures (delicate vs. pyrotechnic) and blends them so skillfully, the resulting album feels more like a qualitatively homogenous and entirely original composition than distinct parts of a whole snapped together. Her voice (sonically and lyrically) bursts with definition, maturity, and a critical mind towards her circumstances; she incorporates the carefree cynicism of Lorde with the intellectual confidence and thematic assertiveness of PJ Harvey. This is an album not to be missed, whether or not you know of St. Vincent.

FINAL SCORE: 4½ out of 5 stars (raw score: 90, “almost perfect”)

St. Vincent was released February 25, 2014